Anti-Muslim Protestor Throws Crosses At Feet Of Man Praying By White House (VIDEO)

A group of anti-Sharia protestors who planned to counter-protest the planned pro-Sharia rally by the radical provocateur Anjem Choudary in front of the White House on Thursday found themselves without an opponent to debate.

The counter rally planned by Frank Gaffney in response to Choudary's pro-Sharia demonstration was left without a raison d'etre after Choudary failed to show up as he'd previously announced (and promoted on Fox News). That left Gaffney and his group preaching to the choir so to speak as they denounced Sharia law to their followers as well as media and curious onlookers.

But just as the rally was dying out, a Muslim man who showed up to pray in front of the White House. He was quickly surrounded by a large group of protestors who shouted an array of insults at him: mocking him for drinking Starbucks coffee, telling him to go back to his country and even throwing tiny crosses at his feet as he prayed. I captured the scene in the video below.

About The Author

Hena Zuberi is the Editor in Chief of Muslimmatters.org. She is also a Staff Reporter at the Muslim Link newspaper which serves the DC Metro. Hena has worked as a television news reporter and producer for CNBC Asia and World Television News. A mom of four and a Green Muslim, she lives and preaches a whole food, organic life which she believes is closest to Sunnah. Active in her SoCal community, Hena served as the Youth Director for the Islamic Center. Using her experience with Youth, she conducts Growing Up With God workshops.
Follow her on Twitter @henazuberi.

salam i agree with Amad, i hear from a lot of people that it’s a desireable thing to pray salah just about anywhere, but there are inappropriate locations and situations for it. If a muslims brings himself or others into danger or it is a provocation or draws some sort of undesierable attention, i think it should be avoided?

The guy was prolly praying in peace before the crowd turned into raving loons. This video doesn’t tell us what was present before the man began his prayers. I think the crowd may have decided much later to shift and get closer to the guy praying in that spot.

I think the analogy works, because Kaba is the Muslims must beloved place and the biggest place of worship whilst the White House is the place where American’s most beloved man or ruler does most of his job. two major kind of people with what is beloved to them. Plus, White House is a famous attraction or place and so is Kaba.

And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashi’un [i.e. the true believers in Allah – those who obey Allah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise, etc.) and in His Warnings (Hell, etc.)]. [Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 45]

What makes them so insecure of islaam n muslims?why dont they do this ridiculous n childish preaching to hindus,atheists n others.muslims have never spoken a word against Isaa or Moosa(a.s) ever.rather they respect them more than their so called followers do.what sort of nations these christians n jews are?why they keep on interfering n intruding islaam n muslim countries?DO THEY HAVE NO RELIGIOUS N MORAL OBLIGATIONS N CODES TO FOLLOW?PALESTINE,IRAQ,AFGHANISTAN,BOSNIA,CHECHNYA,N ALMOST ALL MUSLIM COUNTRIES ARE FACING THEIR hysteric n lunatic islamophobia.In this video they are crying out Jesus Jesus without knowing how great Jesus was.Such a cheap attitude of an ignorant mob,Can that ever suit the Greatness of Jesus?oh GOd help them who have gone astray….

I remember I once prayed in a restaurant parking lot while one of my colleagues waited in the car. It was one among the peaceful salah, I’ve ever prayed. Completely unbeknownst to me, my colleague would later tell me when I returned to the car that some guy in car had been erratically speeding around us in circles, giving me dirty looks and maybe even saying something as his windows were down. But I didn’t any hear and wasn’t aware of any of it.

He is almost like Exhibit A for everything that Islamophobes want to see and hear from Muslims. He does it better than any nonMuslim could pretend to do. And to be honest, I am not even sure if he believes it all, or just does it out of spite or some other weird itch to be famous.

Why don’t they put people like him behind bars when they have put others that have done and said far worse? Something to think about.

the only thing that I found that is controversal about him is that he supports suicide attacks that took place in london in 2007 and in other places as well…

other than that, the establishment of an Islamic state and everything else he has said is in accordance with Islam….

Brother Amad, I really feel uncomfortable making assumptions about him like that. I mean, we should avoid suspicion. The muslims world to be honest is very confused. So many different “versions” of Islam exist in the mind of so many muslims. Who knows, maybe we’re are just blind to see it but he might be speaking the truth. May Allah guide us all…

I know who we need.. The four caliphs. They’re great leaders known to all, Plus they were guaranteed Paradise during their lifetime. And Anjum Chaudary we don’t know whether he’s going to Paradise or not. And he might not be good in his personal life. But Allah knows bes. I know nothing of his personal life.

I know that in an Islamic State christians have the right to practice their religion, but I know that they do not have right to preach or practice their religion openly; just like the muslims brother is doing in the video. In an islamic state, the christian would be reprimanded for praying in a public place, especially near a government building

So I I want to know how we muslims should deal with this inconsistency? Astaghfurullah, I don’t want to associate that with Islam, but isn’t it t hypocritical for us to chastise the people in the video?

I think this is something we muslims need to understand before we start posting articles about bigotry and intolerance…

America is a secular country, not a Christian country. I am not aware of any country which officially has laws based on the Bible. You can look up how Muslims were treated in countries that were officially Christian in history. All I can think of is are the Muslims in Spain during their expulsion.

I am not aware of harassment laws or anything, but weren’t they a little too close to the man praying? To me that is probably crossing a line into illegal activity – almost like assault. They can actually incite violence the way they were surrounding him and coming close to him.

Also, same question for the protest they had in orange country, CA. Some of the things they said against those people were just outright violent and hate speech. Does anyone know what constitutes a hate crime?

I do agree the brother could have picked a better spot to pray Salah, but you never know the specific circumstances and timing of the whole thing. Maybe he was running late for prayer or maybe he just wanted to exercise his right to freedom of religion. Nothing justified that groups actions of harassing him like that.

I think it is becoming clearer and clearer to me what the right wing will push as their agenda for the upcoming elections. The same campaign tactics they used to convince people to vote for bush will probably be used again. Except this time it will be 10 times more extreme.

Someone mentioned Muslims needing more professional PR people in the other article about the Orange County protest. I couldn’t agree more.

Yep he could’ve chosen a better location but that does not excuse the fact that these protestors are openly harassing and mocking him. He seemed to have kept his calm though. I cam across the following below to show how the great leaders of Islam went through hardships bit there khusoo’ did not affect them in any way.

“Consider the following examples of those who came before us:

ô€‚ƒ The Muslims once head out with the Prophet (peace be upon him) on way toÂ battle. During the trip the Prophet ordered two companions, one of the Ansaar andÂ one of the Muhaajireen, to stand guard over them. As they did the MuhaajerÂ decided to rest while the Ansaari chose to stand in prayer. Along came a nonbelieverÂ and cast an arrow striking the Ansari in the chest. The Ansari pulled outÂ the arrow and continued in prayer. The non-believer struck him with a secondÂ arrow. Again the Ansari removed it and continued his prayer. A third arrow wasÂ cast but now the Ansari could no longer stand and finally fell bleeding into his Ruku’Â and Sujood. The aggressor fled as the Muhaajer rushed to his brotherâ€™sÂ aid, â€œSubhanallah! Why didnâ€™t you alert me from the first arrow??â€ The AnsariÂ replied, â€œI was in the middle of a (beautiful) Sura and didnâ€™t wish to interrupt myÂ recitation of it.â€

ô€‚ƒ Imam Bukhari was once stung by a wasp 17 times while standing in prayer. WhenÂ he finished, he felt some discomfort and asked if anyone was aware of whatÂ caused it.

ô€‚ƒ Ibn-Azzubair stood firm and unflinching in his prayer while catapults fired uponÂ the ground he stood on.

ô€‚ƒ It was said that when Ali washed in preparation for prayer, he always went paleÂ and trembled with anxiety as he thought of himself about to stand before his Lord.

ô€‚ƒ Another companion needed an amputation. He requested that it be performedÂ while he was engaged in Salah.

ô€‚ƒ An entire wall collapsed in the mosque that one companion was praying in, but heÂ was too engrossed to realize what happened till his prayer was completed.

Not a rock will be thrown at you because if you are sincere and truly wish to pray as Jesus did, you simply would be indistinguishable from a Muslim.

I am also somewhat bewildered. You said that you will pray to Jesus. I.e acknowledging he is a deity worthy of that worship, yet you say: “God bless Jesus”. May I ask, isn’t that asking “god” to bless himself. Or maybe it is a subconscious realisation that Jesus is in need of God’s blessing, thereby disqualifying him from being God.

Maybe I’ve lost it here, but I’ve clearly explained my thought process. All I hear from you, is you asking God to bless himself? And “god” praying to himself? And a bunch of other swear words that I personally have never used in my life. Alhamdullillah.

LOL…….typical Muslims. You didn’t like my post, so you went ahead and deleted it. The last time I checked this is America and I am afforded the freedom of speech. This website domain is also from here in the U.S.

Considering that my remarks contained no threats or profanity, one would assume all of you muslims are bigots with your own agenda.

UMAR…..I was speaking in generalities. However, I have decided to go pray with some Christians and Jews at the Dome of the Rock in Israel. Then we shall have our next prayer session at the Al-Aqsa mosque. (By the way, it is only a matter of time before those two atrocious buildings become dust and rubble when Israel expands it’s temple. lol)

Oh wait…I forgot that isn’t allowed. It would be a slap in the face.

By that logic, your Muslim buddy outside the White House should have known better. He did it to elicit a response, nothing more. I hope he enjoyed the American rebuttal.

Your bible has contradictions. Many Christians who’ve studied the Quran converted to Islam. Heard of Yusuf Estes? he was formerly known as Skip Estes. And he was a preacher who preached Christianity. Because of one contradiction of three gods to one (??!) he converted to Islam. I mean how can you explain to me that three god is one god. I mean isn’t that just illogical? Isn’t 1+1+1= 3. Why is 1+1+1= 1?? OMG it’s really confusing. I’ve had come through this question billion times in my head and I never received an answer. Try explaining it to me? Or run away? Allah your Creator, gave us a brain to think it through. Use it. Seriously if I receive the answer for this question, I might convert to Christianity.

@ Nerd It’s my post- I didn’t like you calling us names on our site so I deleted it- If you would like to have a civil discourse you are welcome at any time.

When a 14-member Christian delegation from Nijran came to the holy city of Madina, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) hosted the delegation in the Prophetâ€™s Mosque and allowed the Christians of the delegation to worship according to their religion in the Prophetâ€™s Mosque. So come over to pray anytime if you come in peace.

This particular gentleman apparently likes to pray in front of the White House ever so often. Who knows why? Would some one in DC find him and ask him? Would love to hear from him.

Obviously Mr. Nerd here happens to be brainwashed by extremist religious groups who have a problem with Islam. One of those guys that is impotent in all other areas of his life, so he takes out his anger on the internet. He doesn’t represent the majority of the people of his faith, therefore there is no reason to even entertain his quite extreme remarks.

@Umar – I don’t think it is your place to tell people of other faiths how they should pray in their religion by quoting versus from the Bible randomly like that – All Muslims don’t pray 100% alike either. If you are a scholar in Biblical proofs for current Christian prayer methods, then I would understand, but it would still be misplaced within the context of this discussion.
And “not a rock will be thrown” at their prayer group BECAUSE it is wrong to throw rocks on people praying, whoever they pray to or however they pray. NOT because somehow there would be an epiphany in their prayer group and they realized that they have been praying the wrong way for 2000 some years and they start praying the “right” way and they all of a sudden become indistinguishable from the Muslims praying in the Mosque, so therefore no rocks would be thrown.

I have seen and particpated in several Muslim prayer groups in Washington D.C. that never were harassed in public. I am talking about Muslims that came to D.C. to join in protests, Muslims who were visiting D.C. on vacation and Muslims who held religious gatherings of prayer and dhikr right next to the Washington monument for the sole purpose of holding a Muslim prayer gathering. All of them protected by the D.C. police and by the constitution of the United States.

Lol, yes I understand that that rocks arent to be thrown despite their method of prayer, but I simply wanted “Nerd” to think about how he would pray. I personally have read many lines of the Bible where Jesus and other prophets pray exactly like Muslims, and pondering over the similarities in prayer between Muslims, Jesus and other prophets is a way to diffuse hatred that “Nerd” clearly has, making him realise that Muslims are not all that alien.

He calls for the Buckingham Palace and the Whitehouse to be turned into mosques, the assassination of the Pope and has lent his support to every terrorist out there only to backtrack when he realised he’d crossed the line. If you can’t see why that might piss off some people, there’s nothing that I can say that will explain it to you

We don’t need any lessons about the “Shariah” from a cartoon-villain character like him